Sunday, October 08, 2017

Why Giving Principals Unlimited Authority Hurts Student Academic Achievement



In 2005 the UFT leadership under Randi Weingarten, irreversibly changed the dynamics of a school by agreeing to a contract that gave principals unlimited authority to run the schools as they saw fit.   This post is not about how terrible the "giveback" laden contract was but about how principals used and abused their newly won power to do as they pleased and how it hurt student academic achievement.

Principals were given unfettered authority to hire and fire as they pleased.  The result was that far too many schools hired newly minted teachers with little or no actual classroom experience and student academic achievement suffered as these "newbie" teachers had a steep learning curve themselves when it came to curriculum knowledge and classroom management issues.  Some schools like Maspeth High School in Queens has an entire staff of untenured teachers.  Moreover, many of the Bloomberg small schools have a majority of untenured teachers on staff.

The DOE policies encouraged principals to hire inexperienced teachers with their "fair student funding" that incentivized principals to "hire the cheapest and not the best teachers" for their schools.  Moreover, approximately 25% o0f all principals came from the infamous "Leadership Academy" many of them with limited classroom experience and were trained to be the CEO and not the instructional leader of their school.  Interestingly, where you find both Leadership Academy principals and an inexperienced teaching staff, student academic achievement suffers.

I once wrote the weakest link in the school system is the Superintendent.  In New York City this is especially true as the superintendents seem to get their position based upon who they know ands not what they know.  Just take a look at all the bad principals associated with Superintendent Juan Mendez, who has been indited by the feds for racial discrimination.   Many of the "bad principals" in Queens high schools wee either appointed by or protected by Mr. Mendez.  Again, student academic performance suffers as these "bad principals" experience high teacher turnover, an unstable school environment, and lack of collaboration.

The bottom line giving principals unlimited power only hurts student academic achievement.

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16 comments:

Anonymous said...

speaking of juan mendez, does anyone know if he is related to one of the most horrible atr stupidvisors the doe has. ayo mendez. it would be interesting to know if there is a connection.

Anonymous said...

I have seen some really bad administrators. Where do they find these people?
I survived Minerva Zanca and Monica Garg, two of the worst 'leaders' I have ever seen in my life. Both were duplicitous, egregiously mean, made no secret of who was currently on their 'hit lists,' and gratuitously ruined the careers of quite a few fine or budding teachers for no other reasons than racism and personal dislike.

How were they rewarded for their misdeeds? Zanca was eventually removed for racism (which I and many others saw and experienced but kept silent about because no one would support us,) but then she was given a cushy job as a guidance counselor in another school. Garg was given a progressive school in Manhattan which she ran into the ground before getting bumped into an office job in Tweed. Superintendent Mendez, who is a unabashedly partisan for 'his people' (racist too?) is still on his throne.

The bonds of civility that hold a society together, once loosed, result in lack of empathy for others. People of other races become the 'other' and can be run outta' town with manipulated Danielson's ratings. The 'manager' becomes a sweatshop foreman. These are the types of 'leaders' that people like Bloomberg praised and Farina loves. Meanwhile, yes, the college and career readiness (the latest fad measurement) is at an all time low, even as the pretend test scores and manipulated credit accumulation rates are at an all time high!

Eight years to go, and three more retro years. That is the only think keeping me sane - oh, and keeping my head down at work and staying under the radar.

Prehistoric pedagogue said...

Indicted. The c is silent but still necessary

Anonymous said...

True story: teacher had a drive by observation. Her lesson plan said 5 minutes for problem of the day, 20 minutes for mini-lesson. 25 minutes later, as she still was attempting to explain aforementioned problem of the day, the AP left in a snit.

AP returns during the teacher's prep, demands to see her lesson plan, and wants to know why she didn't adhere to the timing. She logically responded that the kids just did not understand what she was doing, and had no intention of stopping when they were clearly lost. He wasn't accepting that.

And now we all wait for the results, because it can happen to any of us....

Anonymous said...

Have you figured out the screwed up paychecks?

Anonymous said...

Most of these Principals are DOE Hacks! They Suck! They do whats best for the DOE. They do whats best for them as well as their cronies, the ones that kiss their asses. I have seen so many GREAT programs that educators built from the ground up, destroyed in a single term because of these imbeciles.

Anonymous said...

There are approx 600 high schools in NYC under the DOE. How the hell is this not a front page article showing the approx principal salary of $160,000.00 and multiplying it by 600 high schools for a total of $96,000,000.00. Imagine this? Yes, it is a very true statement that shows how absurd boxing up high school buildings is effecting the budget. Why isn't there 1 principal and then 4 houses like A, B, C, and D? You have 1 principal salary in 1 building and have 4 A.P.'s. Are you kidding me? $96,000,000.00 a year JUST ON PRINCIPAL SALARIES? A total shitshow and mockery of a system. You know what Chaz? I'm beginning to side with the reformers. I'm beginning to really see what's going on here in NYC. It is all about the money for specific people, but these people aren't that fantastic. You do not need 600 high school principals in NYC. The reformers are correct. It has nothing to do with the kids anymore. This is about padding pensions and jobs for friends hiding in the bureaucracy making 6 figure salaries. When you have disgraced, removed principals still earning monstrous salaries but are now labeled ATR Administrators who have zero ZZEERROO responsibility, it kind of makes you say hey, what the fuck is going on here man?

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately the UFT is defending these bad principals.

Anonymous said...

Not all AP’s teach even one class. They took the job to get out of the classroom. If a new teacher comes in, the new teacher is mentored by another teacher, not the AP. How about the AP’s and the principal doing forced coverages? Not all of us want coverages. We have more than enough to do on our one lousy stinking prep. I would never have voted to have a prep given up. We need both and then some. If any teacher doesn’t need the second prep, then please donate your prep to me. This is part of the readin why we are coming in early, staying late and/ or taking work home.

Anonymous said...

The system is broken! Corruption has taken precedence here in NYCDOE.

Anonymous said...

2:09PM - You are absolutely correct on the fact that there are too many high school principals. They earn $140-$160K annually to oversee 400 kids which have other staff overseeing them. Come on. This is so obvious. This is a sham. These pathetic little schools. I can see earning $160K for a school with 2500 students and up, but 400 students. Again, this is a no brainer. Mismanagement of tax payer money. Also, there are too many administrators in DOE with fancy titles. There needs to be a cap on administrators. MISMANAGEMENT! Let's not forget superintendants. Multiple superintendants for one borough! There should be one per borough.

Anonymous said...

These Principals are getting rid of experienced teachers which are being replaced by young teachers.

Highly Effective King Clovis said...

I still can't believe someone thinks Jose Cruz is qualified to run a school. He's a misogynist, racist dumbass who makes the President look like Stephen Hawking.

Anonymous said...

Principals like Dwarka are bringing our schools to the ground.

Anonymous said...

That is what our Chancellor likes.

Anonymous said...

check out the principal at tottenville in the news for plagiarizing. that is probably the less egregious of things that he has done at that school. AP'S bend to his will; its his way or no way and if you disagree you will find yourself constantly being watched and low balled on observations. if you speak out or are standing up for the contract and your colleagues, you are brought up on trumped up 3020a charges. in addition, allowing AP's to go in and change evaluation scores because he doesn't think they are low enough. this is what a principal unchecked can do and yet still has his job. meanwhile, dozens have transferred or retired in the 3 yrs he has been there. the school of excellence (that needed no changes) has been changed for the worst